EXCLUSIVE: The comedy duo of Mimi Davila (Problemista) and Laura Di Lorenzo (Selena: The Series)—who perform as The Chonga Girls— are set to write, star and co-executive produce an eponymous multi-camera comedy series in development at CBS Studios, Deadline has learned exclusively.
The project hails from Marlena Rodriguez (Silicon Valley, Clone High) who will serve as writer and showrunner. Additionally, Rodriguez will EP alongside Wilmer Valderrama and Kaitlin Saltzman under his WV Entertainment banner, and Al Madrigal.
The Chonga Girls follows two dangerously confident childhood friends, Mimi and Laura, who move from Miami to Hollywood to realize their dream of becoming famous. But, much to their surprise, they find themselves working at the makeup counter for a department store right off the Walk of Fame.
Davila is a Cuban/Bulgarian actress, comedian and writer who, alongside her best friend Di Lorenzo, released the viral video Chongalicious in 2007. Most recently, she wrapped shooting the lead role in the indie film The Scout. She can also be seen in Julio Torres’ feature film Problemista and Gala Film’s new dystopian series RZR. Davila and Di Lorenzo perform regularly together at comedy festivals. Davila is repped by Innovative Artists, Odenkirk Provissiero Entertainment and Zoffren Brittenham.
Di Lorenzo is a Venezuelan Miamian whose voice was behind the music of Selena Quintanilla in the Netflix series Selena: The Series. She is best known for co-creating the comedy web series The Chonga Diaries, which spawned her segment, “Laura’s Corner,” available from Mitú via Comcast. She is repped by Odenkirk Provissiero Entertainment and Zoffren Brittenham.
WV Entertainment is known for highlighting and uplifting the stories of LatinX and underrepresented communities across traditional media and podcasts. Last year, the company signed a first-look deal with CBS Studios.
Additionally, Valderrama became a shareholder of the My Cultura Podcast Network from iHeartMedia. He hosts and produces podcasts as well as helps curate the network’s slate of Latinx-focused podcasts which includes scripted and unscripted projects from Eva Longoria, Freddie Prinze, Jr, Cobra Kai stars Xolo Maridueña and Jacob Bertrand, and Princess of South Beach starring Rachel Zegler and Sheryl Rubio, to name a few. Additionally, WV Entertainment is developing a reimagined Zorro series for ABC among other projects currently in various stages of production.
Madrigal and Valderrama, as multihyphenate powerhouses in Hollywood, find synergy in their dedication to bringing Latino stories to the forefront. Madrigal currently stars in NBC’s Lopez Vs. Lopez, the only network series featuring a Latino family, alongside George Lopez, Mayan Lopez and Selenis Leyva. As a producer, he also has various projects in development yet to be announced. Previously, he created the comic book series Primos and starred in multiple film and TV projects.
